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By Anna Lam, VRG Intern<\/p>\n
One of the best ways to convert those you know to veganism is to cook for them. People (especially those who\u2019ve eaten the Western diet all their lives) are so accustomed to meat being a part\u2014nay, the main part\u2014of their meals, that gathering around the table for an all-plant foods meal seems an entirely foreign idea to most. If your goal is to convince those around you (like your friends and family) that a vegan diet is a healthy, tasty, and sustainable diet, it\u2019s a little demanding to suddenly require them to drastically alter their eating habits or to do so in order to accommodate your own. Mindsets can be obstinate, so changing mindsets must be a delicate process. That\u2019s why whenever I visit my family, I make sure to at least offer to cook meals or help cook them. If I have it my way, I completely commandeer the kitchen just to make my being vegan not a burden for others. This way, they don\u2019t feel they are pressured to accommodate me, and I can open their eyes to the bountiful kingdom of plant-based foods that we can all enjoy without another creature suffering for that enjoyment. I\u2019d like to share some of my own tips, as well as meals I\u2019ve prepared for non-vegans, in the hopes that other vegans might consider doing the same. <\/p>\n
My immediate family is a family of six. So, if I can help it, I make sure they are eating vegan (and eating well) when I\u2019m home. It helps that my mom doesn\u2019t like to cook, so she always lets me have free-reign of the kitchen. The goal is to make delicious, healthy, and cruelty-free food, because it helps when both parties are happy: the people who are not eating animals and the animals that are not being eaten. <\/p>\n
My tip number one is to show your loved ones that they are not missing out on anything by eating vegan. And the better you know your audience, the easier it is to make them see how being plant-based really isn\u2019t all that difficult. My Dad loves red beans and rice, so I made it a point to cook that at least one night when I was home. My little sister loves boiled potatoes, so I made that as a snack for her when she came home from school in the afternoons to tide her over until a vegan supper. In short, focus on making and emphasizing the things they can still eat, and don\u2019t remind them of what they can\u2019t. My brother loves smoothies, so I made him a vibrantly-colored smoothie bowl in the mornings and put the effort into making them as attractive as possible with lots of yummy toppings. My parents live in the South and have developed a taste for Southern cooking, so one night I veganized traditional Southern foods such as cornbread, black beans and rice, and collard greens. <\/p>\n
My second tip is not to conflate veganism with \u201cclean-eating\u201d if you don\u2019t have to. For many, the vegan lifestyle ultimately is a lifestyle of compassion, with the welfare of animals being the primary reason for our continued forgoing of animal products. When I cook for my family, I try to make food that is quite tasty, which means that I\u2019m not afraid to use some oil or salt or refined flours in my dishes. I don\u2019t want my family to associate veganism with tasteless, bland food. That makes going vegan seem a lot less appealing to those not quite willing to make the switch yet. This, of course, also more or less depends on your audience. My family regularly consumes food with oil, salt, and refined flours, so to remove these ingredients, which tend to make food taste better for some, and animal products, might be too much to give up all at once. Eating vegan shouldn\u2019t feel like sacrificing good tasting food. If making vegan food healthy helps sell your message, by all means cut the salt and sugar. But otherwise, the goal should be showing people that they don\u2019t have to use animal products in their dishes in order to meet their daily tastes and needs. Granted, it\u2019s important to eat healthy foods\u2014I don\u2019t want to diminish that point. So, while you\u2019re at it, you might consider talking about and incorporating better-for-you alternatives to what is typical in a Standard American Diet. Focus on finding the happy medium between having an awareness of what you\u2019re consuming and allowing you and those you\u2019re cooking for to enjoy food. Remember that it\u2019s possible to still take care of your body without depriving yourself of the occasional brownie. <\/p>\n
Below is a meal plan of dinners I prepared for my family and a Saturday potluck with friends. I put careful thought into each of these meals, considering what I felt like would be most appealing to my family and friends\u2019 tastes. This, I think, was crucial and made my efforts a success. My parents reported that they are happily continuing to eat vegan dinners, and staving off their consumption of animal products during the day. My dad said he was more comfortable eating a meal of all plants now, and my mom told me that she thought the taste of real sausage seemed weird to her now. They\u2019ve begun to share recipes with neighbors and friends. It could be in the not-too-distant-future that a single vegan turns into a family of vegans, which could turn into a community of vegans. But it\u2019s these small, initial rippling successes that make such endeavors of mine worthwhile, and why I highly recommend similar efforts on the part of other vegans looking to gently spread the message of compassion without shaming and heaping guilt on others, and instead using small but deliberate actions to make a big difference. <\/p>\n
Monday:
\n Hoppin\u2019 johns with rice
\n Cornbread flapjacks
\n Collard greens
\n Seitan \u2018ham\u2019 <\/p>\n